Author: Jordan G Estabrook
It’s almost impossible to walk in a public space without seeing a toddler or kid with an iPad, phone or some other kind of technology. Almost every teenager has a cellphone, taking selfies, posting on Instagram or something.
Me, and many other childless adults, feel uneasy. We don’t have kids, but we want them some day.
But it seems their attention span has shortened, their imagination left uncultivated and little to no interest in other activities. I’m not a parent myself, but I wonder if technology has become the most crucial aspect of parenting - putting your kid in front of the screen for peace and quiet, complaining about them online or starting a mommy blog. Technology mimicking oxygen. Technology becoming the parent.
We Already Know the Problem
There are plenty of studies proving the damage of overusing technology, I don’t need to convince you. All you have to do is Google it. Many of them list the following issues:
Lack of ability to process information
Easily distracted
Lower attention span
Lack of imagination
Decrease in social skills
Body image issues
Access/addiction to pornography
Sexual confusion
You don’t even need to Google it. All you have to do is walk around. 95% of teenagers have a smartphone. 71% of parents are concerned their child might overuse technology. Researchers, parents and adults alike see this an issue, but what is the solution? Why do we allow this to continue?
But We Let it Slide
If I might so boldly suggest, it is in part the ease of entertainment for our children and yes, even for us with our technology, that has allowed this to continue on. It is the peer pressure from children and parents to fit in. We value our comfort more.
“You’re not a parent, Jordan, so you have no right to say any of this. If you’re not a parent, you can’t judge parents.”
You’d be right in one sense. I can’t fully judge, but me and many others see the results. The results matter, and something’s off. It doesn’t take a parent to see it (but to be fair, many parents see it and act accordingly).
There's a Bigger Issue
But there’s another serious issue here. If we allow technology to raise our children, what we’re really doing is allowing other people, who don’t share our morals and values, to instill their own ideology into them.
I’ve never seen technology so overused and children so oversexualized in my entire life. I see 14 year olds in mini dresses looking like they’re 25. When I was 14, I was wearing bermuda shorts, just like many others. In fact, my friends are happy that we were ugly as kids. We played outside all day. We made interesting little stories with our toys. What happened to that?
Thankfully, many parents around my age are seeing what’s happened and severely restricting technology. To what extent is up to them. It’s not too late to turn around, but we have to want to.
For the sake of our children, it’s time to put down the phones and model the values we want for our children.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily represent those of Resident Skeptics.
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